Good morning Garden Spot!

Bob Marley sings the lyrics, “Could you be love, and be loved” in his song, “Could You Be Loved”. It is easy to hear or read these words without thinking about what they actually mean, but as I was listening this song the other day I was thinking about just how important those words are. One of the verses begins with the line, “The road of life is rocky and you may stumble too, so while you point your fingers someone else is judging you”.

Could you be love refers to how well you are able to live a life that extends love to others. Are you able to be kind to those who don’t deserve it, to be patient with those who push your buttons, and to put others ahead of yourself? I could go on and on about what love looks like, but I think you get the point. Be careful to love in a way that reflects your understanding that you too will need others to love you (could you be love), and you will be a person who others are able to love (and be loved). If you aren’t able to live love in your life, it will be difficult for others to love you, and real love is the one thing that will help you make it through the rocky roads of life. Love is an action, and too often people say they love others while acting in a way that does not show love. I can say “I love you” very easily, but if I treat you poorly then my words are really meaningless. Love is an action, and actions speak louder than words.

Reminders:

• Grades will be pulled on Tuesday, September 16 and used to determine iSpartan placements that will begin on Wednesday, September 24.
• If you are using the outside lunch area, please be aware that you are expected to clean up after yourselves, and to remain seated until the bell rings dismissing you from lunch. You should not be congregating at the doors awaiting the bell, and should keep the volume of your conversation low enough that it is not impacting the classrooms you are surrounded by. Thank you to those of you who are holding themselves accountable to these expectations, and to the rest of you, please begin to do what is expected so that we can continue to offer the opportunity for you to enjoy being outside during your lunch.

Teacher Spotlight:

This week I would like to spotlight all of the teachers in our school. Just like many of you, many of them have things in their personal life that are a source of sadness, pain, stress, or frustration, and yet they set those things aside because they care so much about you. Some of those things are small, but some of them are big. Regardless of how severe their struggles are, they do not bring them into the classroom, and generally you are not even aware of the struggles they are facing. It is easy to assume that all of their lives are easy, but that is simply not always the case. Be willing to extend the same grace to them if they have a bad day as all of them extend to you, and thank them for coming to school with a smile on their face each day, and giving the best of themselves to you each day, even if things outside of school are consuming their thoughts. It is important for all of us to acknowledge that life is difficult, and that everyone around us is dealing with something. A smile and a thank you go a long way. We are a community, and the more we care about each other, the better we can make each day that we spend together.

Personal Challenge:

We have all experienced a situation where someone said or did something that hurt us, and have likely retaliated with actions or words that are hurtful in return. If you have not done this, then you certainly have known someone who has been part of a situation like this. Getting revenge, or getting even, is a decision to allow the actions of someone else to dominate your life.

Imagine a world where our forgiveness or acceptance of others is not based on whether or not they forgive or accept us. If everyone decides that they will get even when someone else wrongs them, that they will not apologize unless the other person apologizes first, or will not accept anyone different from themselves unless those people accept them and their differences first, then we would have a world full of anger, resentment, broken relationships, intolerance, and selfishness.

It is absolutely necessary that you find a way to remove your pride, to get past the wrongs that others have committed against you, and to be someone who realizes that others make mistakes… and more importantly, that you make mistakes too. Learn to forgive… learn to say you’re sorry… learn to admit when you’re wrong… learn to humble yourself enough to do those things even when you are not to blame, or are not the one who started the argument… learn to do those things even when the other person does not deserve it. Be a bigger person, care about relationships more than you care about your pride, and realize that others are often waiting for the other person to take the first step. Many of them live their life in a way that holds on to resentment and anger, and that stubbornly refuse to be the first one to admit when they are wrong or apologize when they have hurt someone who also hurt them. You can be a person who does it differently, and others will respect you for that.

Deciding to live differently from the rest of the world around you will prove to be a path to personal satisfaction, fulfillment, and enjoyment of life. It does not guarantee that you will not have problems in life, or that your life will be easy… life is difficult, and sometimes hard to understand… but it will guarantee that each day you live will be sweeter than it would be if you chose to harbor resentment and anger by refusing to be the person who takes the first step toward resolving conflict in your relationships.

My challenge to you today is to be a person who chooses to live life differently. I believe that as each of us does these things better, others will slowly become better at doing them too and we will change for better wherever we are at in this world.

Have a great weekend,
Mr. Cox
Assistant Principal
Garden Spot High School